


Sky-Crossed Lovers

by SapphicScholar



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, airplane au, already out Alex, holiday fluff, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21674128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphicScholar/pseuds/SapphicScholar
Summary: Fic idea from @Maglex1: Sanvers AU where Maggie is a flight attendant and Alex a businesswoman and they see each other all the time and create a friendship. Then Christmas is coming and so Alex books all the flights in Maggie’s route so she doesn’t spend Christmas alone. At the end they kiss."Few details are changed, but pretty much what it says there. Happy holidays!
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer
Comments: 58
Kudos: 401





	Sky-Crossed Lovers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DebM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DebM/gifts).



> Thanks for the great idea and for letting me run with it! 
> 
> A/N: Shh I know I played with some dates to make certain timelines fit better. Also I'm pretty sure my absolute hatred of flying comes through here, but I tried to make airplanes sound like they're maybe not hell on earth!

“Ladies and gentlemen,” came the overly cheery voice of the flight attendant, which was Alex’s cue to pop her headphones in, close her eyes, and try to look surly enough that the stranger in the middle seat wouldn’t attempt small talk. On days when she’d come straight from meetings with men who liked to hear themselves talk, she often managed scowls deep enough to prevent conversation across the whole aisle. Today felt more like a one- to two-passenger-radius-level scowl. Ah well.

Once they’d made it through the safety demonstrations and the plane had rumbled to life, speeding down the runway before launching into the air (sending Alex’s heart rate skyrocketing for a few minutes, not that she’d ever admit to being nervous about something as statistically safe as flying), Alex let herself relax back into her seat as she mentally prepared herself for several long hours in the air.

A few minutes after the seatbelt sign turned off, the flight attendants pushed the snack and drink cart into the aisle. Alex might be able to do without the shitty pretzels, but a plastic cup of something to take the edge off the predicted mid-flight turbulence sounded ideal.

“Anything to drink?” a woman who looked to be about Alex’s age asked, her eyes scanning across the row.

Alex pulled out her headphones and ordered wine, hoping this woman would be as generous with her pouring as the last few had been.

“ID please.”

Alex barely suppressed the look of surprise before dragging her bag back out from under the seat and locating her ID while the woman took the drink orders of the other two people in her row.

When Alex presented her ID, the woman’s smile seemed a little friendlier, though Alex shrugged it off. It wasn’t like this was some porno where the hot flight attendant was going to ask her to meet her in the back for a quickie. Not that she’d do that. Probably not. The dimples _were_ really cute.

“Thank you, Alexandra.”

Alex grimaced. “Alex. Please.”

The woman’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she nodded. “Understood. I refuse to talk to anyone who tries to call me Margarita.”

“So…Maggie?”

“For that…” Maggie splashed a little extra wine in her cup and winked at Alex as she handed it over. As she began pushing her cart down to the next row, she dropped her voice low and murmured, “Love the pin, by the way.”

It wasn’t until Maggie was gone that Alex remembered the tiny rainbow flag pin she’d stuck onto her bag in a fit of annoyance after Sharon asked her, for the hundredth time, if she’d found a boyfriend yet. As if she’d ever discuss her love life at work, even if she did manage to hold down a girlfriend for longer than a few dates.

Well, that had to be a good sign for today’s flight. The corners of Alex’s mouth curled up a bit as she took a first sip of her mediocre airplane wine and popped her headphones back in.

Only it turned out that meeting Maggie wasn’t a good omen at all.

First it was a drink spilled on Alex’s lap, soaking her jeans and leaving her shivering in the overly air-conditioned cabin.

Then it was a baby sitting in front of her wailing at the top of its lungs.

Who roused the dozing child sitting behind Alex. Who promptly began kicking at her seat.

Then it was the turbulence.

Before the man sitting next to her could get out a full sentence about feeling motion sick, Alex was up and out of her seat, ignoring the bright “fasten seatbelts” sign as she strode up the aisle towards the first-class seats with their extra legroom and better food and lack of children.

Within moments, she found herself standing in front of Maggie, who was sitting in one of the fold-down seats behind the cockpit.

“Can I help you?”

“There’s a screaming baby. And a kicking child. And a sick adult. By my seat, I mean. I just…can I maybe just…stand here…for a few minutes?”

Maggie’s gaze darted up to the seatbelt sign. “You really should be in a seat.”

Alex couldn’t quite help the longing look at the folding seat beside Maggie’s. She didn’t care that it was even smaller than economy seats and less cushioned. It looked like heaven.

After a moment, Maggie gave a quick nod of her head. “If anyone asks, you’re a doctor, and you’re giving me a full report on that sick passenger.”

With a grin and a dorky thumbs up that she promptly regretted, Alex pulled down the seat and fastened the seatbelt. “If it makes you feel any better, I really am a doctor.”

“If you tell me you’ve got a PhD in literature or something, I’m gonna send you back to your seat.”

“What about a PhD in biomedical engineering?”

“Wha—really?”

Alex nodded.

“Hmm. I guess I’ll keep ya around for a little longer.”

“I’m so glad you approve,” Alex shot back with a roll of her eyes.

Maggie fixed her with a hard stare. “Do you really want to piss off the woman who’s letting you break the rules?”

Raising her hands, Alex grinned sheepishly. “Alright, alright. I’m shutting up now.”

After a few moments of silence, though, Maggie nudged her shoulder. “I didn’t say you had to be silent. Five hours in the air’ll get awfully boring if we don’t say a word.”

“I’m normally one of those silent fliers.”

“Ah.”

“I mean, I’m normally flying with a bunch of strangers.”

“Well _I_ know you go by Alex and like wine and don’t love children or sick people, so I don’t think we really count as strangers anymore, hmm?”

“And here all I know about you is that you go by Maggie and don’t like silence.”

“I prefer it to boring conversation, but somehow you don’t seem the type to bore me, Alex.”

Alex’s heart fluttered at the easy grin pulling up the corners of Maggie’s mouth. “Sweet talker,” she managed.

“You know, if I haven’t gotten at least one passenger to fall madly in love with me by the end of the flight, I consider it a failure.”

“Oh really? That’s your measure of success? Not if, I don’t know, the plane lands safely and on time?”

Maggie shrugged. “That’s the pilot’s job. I’m just here to make everyone feel safe, even if we’re being bounced through the air in the worst turbulence I’ve ever experienced.” She glanced out the window and bit her lower lip. But when Alex shot a panicked look in her direction, she burst out laughing. “I’m just fucking with you. This is nothing. Little turbulence is normal when you go over the Rockies. Nothing more.”

“Oh. Yeah, I mean, I wasn’t worried.”

“Tell that to your eyebrows.”

Alex groaned. “My sister and I are both gonna need botox before we’re 40. Damn crinkle.”

“Older or younger sister?”

“Younger. Not by much, though.”

“Ah, so you never got used to life as an only child, then.”

“Oh, uh, not quite. My parents adopted her when I was older. High school.”

Maggie looked ready to ask another question, but when she looked back at Alex, she shut her mouth again. “Enough about family. What’s got you flying across the country.”

“Conference.”

“Presenting or just attending?”

“Presenting.”

“Very fancy.”

Alex shrugged. “It’s nice to get to do something related to my own research.”

“Isn’t that what you PhDs do all day long? Hole yourself up in labs and write papers no one reads?”

Alex glared, but it lacked any real bite.

“Okay, if I’m wrong, then tell me: What does Dr. Alex do all day?”

“Huh…that’d stop me from getting confused with my mother,” Alex murmured under her breath before shaking her head and turning her attention back to Maggie. “I used to do a lot more hands-on work, but now that I run my own lab, I’ve got lab techs and grad students and employees who do a lot of the day-to-day work for me. And I still get to do my research and write up results and all, but…I don’t know.” Alex’s lips twitched as she searched for words that never seemed to come out right when she was on the phone with her mother, trying in vain to explain why she wasn’t as happy as Eliza thought she should be.

“Feels like you’re one step removed these days?”

“Yeah, actually.”

Maggie nodded. “There’s something nice about working with your hands.” Alex’s cheeks warmed, and she ducked her head before Maggie could notice. “I imagine it’s hard to give that up, even for a promotion.”

Alex let out a little hum of agreement. “Plus, the bureaucracy…holy shit. There are so many meetings. And budget forms. And grant proposals. And more meetings with potential investors. And weird administrative things.”

“Sounds awful.”

Shaking her head, Alex rubbed at her forehead. “No, I shouldn’t complain. I mean, it’s my dream job, right? The kind of thing I’ve been working for my whole career.”

Maggie tilted her head slightly to one side as she regarded Alex closely. “Things don’t always meet your expectations. It’s okay to want more.”

“Maybe… What about you?” In an instant, Maggie’s features had closed off, and Alex scrambled, trying to find her way back to surer ground. “I just mean, you know, what’s it like being a flight attendant? Do you get to travel to all sorts of cool places?”

“That part, yeah, that’s a real perk. Growing up, I…I never really thought I’d see the world, but look at me now.” There was something dark hiding beneath the forced cheer, but before Alex could try to find the words that might make it better, Maggie had undone her seatbelt. “Time to go make the rounds with the drink cart again.”

By the time Maggie got back, Alex had an apology prepared for asking her too much when she was already breaking the rules for Alex, but Maggie seemed lighter again and even brought Alex a fresh glass of wine. (“Saw you left your old one there. Also, good call on moving seats,” she added with a shudder and a wrinkle of her nose.)

The rest of the flight passed easily enough. They talked about TV shows and favorite travel spots. Maggie regaled Alex with stories of the worst places she’d ever stayed, and Alex talked about the worst conferences she’d been to, starting with the one where her own mother had shown up and asked a question at Alex’s panel. Maggie even got Alex to play a couple of car games—or, Alex had always thought of them as car games before, though, she supposed, they worked just as well on planes. Except the license plate game. That one was a no go.

When they began their descent and Alex grew quieter and quieter, Maggie didn’t say anything, but she shifted the conversation to the pilot John and the award for excellence in flying he’d won the past year. And just before the plane touched down, Alex felt Maggie’s fingertips—light, but grounding—against the back of her hand until they’d begun slowing down.

“Off to do my job,” Maggie announced, pulling her hand back before Alex’s eyes opened again. “It was nice flying with you, Alex.”

“Yeah, uh, you too.”

“Have a nice conference, yeah?”

“Have a nice, uh, visit to Metropolis.”

With a quick flash of a smile and a nod, Maggie was off.

\---

Alex tried to tell herself she wasn’t disappointed that a certain dimpled flight attendant wasn’t on her trip back to National City. Besides, even if she were, without any extenuating circumstances, it’s not like she would’ve let Alex come up and sit next to her for no reason. What would Alex even say? “Hey, you’re cute, and I don’t like many people, but I had fun talking to you.” No. She’d sound stupid.

\---

If Alex happened to book her next flight with National again, well, there were so many reasons to make that choice. Like, sometimes they had direct cross-country flights. And okay, yeah, she actually got stuck with a layover this time, but it was fine. Layovers didn’t have to be awful. Whatever. Great customer service was a perfectly legitimate reason for choosing one airline over another with actual direct flights _and_ better in-flight entertainment options.

\---

After a long delay that had Alex regretting ever opting for National Airlines, she boarded the plane in a huff, stuffing her bag under her seat and making sure everyone around her could feel how miserable she was. And after all this, she was going to have to do it again in 2 hours for the second leg of her trip. Well, at least her scowl was completely genuine.

But then there was a tiny flight attendant in a crisp white shirt leaning down and smiling at her, and suddenly all the airline’s wrongs were forgotten.

“Ya know, I was so sure that another Alexandra Danvers’ being on my flight was just a coincidence, but here you are.”

Alex smiled dopily. “Here I am.”

“Unfortunately, I’m here with bad news.”

“Oh?”

“We’re not making it to Houston on time for you to catch your next plane.”

Okay, maybe she did still hate National Airlines. Gritting her teeth, she tried not to direct all that built-up anger at Maggie. Still, her voice was tight when she managed a simple: “Oh.”

“But if you don’t mind waiting a couple of hours at the airport, I think I can swing a free first-class ticket for you on the next flight out to DC.”

“I’ve never flown first-class.”

There was that dimple again. “They say once you go first-class it’s hard to go back.”

“I’m gonna need to start booking all my flights during storms then, huh?”

“Thanks for being so understanding. We’ll get a new boarding pass printed for you and have it ready at the desk at Houston, okay?” And then she was gone again.

Alex tried not to be disappointed when Maggie didn’t come to whisk her away to the flight attendant seats. She was comforted some when Maggie flashed her a big smile and a wink when she stopped at Alex’s row with the snack cart. Alex even managed to summon a bit of enthusiasm about the packets of cookies Maggie was passing out.

The rest of the flight passed easily enough. Without any terrible issues, Alex wasn’t about to go impose herself on someone who was trying to work and probably hadn’t given Alex a second thought once she got off the plane in Metropolis. So she ate the dry cookies and ignored her seatmate when she asked Alex where she was headed and tried to banish the vague sense of disappointment that clung to her throughout the entirety of the flight.

When they landed in Houston, Alex forced her way through the crowds to the check-in desk and picked up her boarding pass, groaning when she saw that she had nearly five hours to kill. Well, there had to be a bar around here somewhere…

“Alex!” Maggie’s voice was slightly breathless as she jogged to catch up with her.

“Maggie? Is something wrong with my ticket?”

“Oh.” Maggie ducked her head, and Alex swore she saw a slight flush of pink coloring her cheeks. “Sorry, no, I guess there’s not—yeah, you’ve got plenty of ways to spend your next few hours.”

As Alex began nodding, thoughts collided in her head, confusing her until she finally blurted out: “Wait, did you want to, um, grab a drink or something?”

“I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Not imposing!” Clearing her throat, Alex tried to sound slightly less excited as she added, “I was just looking around for a place.”

“C’mon, I know where the less shitty ones are.”

And really, how was Alex supposed to turn down that offer?

Which was how she found herself seated next to Maggie at a significantly less crowded bar at the far end of the airport, waiting eagerly for her whiskey and the basket of waffle fries Maggie had insisted were “amazing” and “just the right level of salty” to arrive.

“Do you get stuck just waiting around the airport during layovers, too? I always assumed flight staff got, I don’t know, some sort of special room or something.”

Maggie’s gaze dropped to her hands as she traced one finger along the edge of her fork’s handle. “Er, yeah, there’s a lounge for us to wait in between flights. But I’m actually done for the day.”

“You’re not coming with me to DC?” Alex asked, before cringing at the wording. “I mean on the flight.”

“Nope.”

After a few moments of silence, Alex looked up. “So you could be somewhere way better than an airport bar?”

A shrug of her shoulders. “Yeah.”

Heat bloomed in Alex’s chest, warming her all the way down to her toes. “But you knew I had a long wait.”

“The waffle fries are also really good,” Maggie added with a huff of laughter.

A few minutes later, Alex had to agree. She hadn’t realized exactly how hungry she was until that moment, but she thought she could probably eat another two or three baskets of them.

Over the next few hours, they switched from whiskey to water and from fries to food that was a bit more substantial, and through it all, they talked about nothing and everything. Alex talked about her work and found herself surprised by how willing Maggie was to listen—even to the nerdiest details that got Alex all excited about possibilities for the future. She talked a bit about Kara and how close they’d gotten over the years, even though her current travel schedule kept her away from National City more than she’d like. After a couple of drinks, she even mentioned the trip she’d be making a few weeks from then up to Midvale and how much she was dreading the inevitable conversations with her mother about finding someone or all the questions about why she didn’t seem happy in her job.

In turn, Maggie talked about places she wanted to go, things she wanted to do. She admitted that being a flight attendant had been a good gig—decent enough pay, chance to see a whole lot more of the world than a poor kid from the Midwest ever thought she would growing up—but that she didn’t want to keep doing it forever. In fact, she’d been training to become a pilot; she’d already gotten her private pilot certificate and earned her instrument rating, though she still needed a few more steps before she could legally be paid or apply for commercial airline jobs. Still, it was a start, and a couple of guys she worked with had been helpful in going out with her and making sure she hit even the requirements that weren’t on any kind of public list to make her the best possible candidate when the day came for her to submit an application. A tipsy Alex promised to be on Maggie’s first flight, no matter how much take offs and landings scared her, though Maggie told her she wouldn’t be offended if she backed out down the line.

Eventually, it was time for Alex to go board her flight to DC. “I didn’t think I’d be sad to be leaving the airport, but this was a lot of fun.”

With a little smile, Maggie nodded. “I had fun, too. Have a safe flight, okay?”

“Think that’s up to the pilot.”

“Alright, alright, well at least have a good time in DC.”

“Have a fun day off in Houston.”

After a moment of awkward fumbling, they managed to make it to a slightly off-center hug with a suitcase in between them.

“Right then.” Alex cleared her throat. “Night.”

\---

The next time Alex boarded a flight, she was miserable before she’d even made it to the airport. National City was in the midst of a heatwave that made every step outside feel like death, and the cab she’d taken to the airport smelled of sweat and moldy cornchips and barely felt cooler than the outside. If the traffic was any indication, she’d also be skidding in just barely on time. And to cap it all off, she was going home. Right after hearing that she hadn’t gotten one of the big grants she’d applied for. And fine, yes, it had been a bit of a reach, since it would have taken her research in a new direction, but still, she’d thought she might have _some_ chance.

By the time Alex made it through security, she only had a few minutes before last call boarding. Cursing under her breath the whole way, Alex sprinted down the long winding walkway, dodging slow tourists and big groups that that thought huddling outside the bathroom in everyone’s way was acceptable.

“Last call for flight 309 to Midvale.”

Half-wheezing—and dear god, it was cruel to make people sprint in this heat when they hadn’t even managed to retie their shoes after security—Alex practically threw herself at the check in desk. “Here!”

The woman pursed her lips as she surveyed Alex’s disheveled appearance. But she still scanned her ticket and motioned her through the gate, so Alex contented herself with a silent, obscenity-laced rant in her head.

Some of the first-class passengers—lucky bastards—glared at Alex as she walked past, as if there was even the slightest chance they would have left before final call if she had been there on time, and Alex had to bite her tongue to keep from yelling at them. Sure, everyone wanted to get out of National City with the heat, but it wasn’t like sleepy little Midvale was the greatest place in the world.

By the time Alex got to her row, she barely had time to wedge her slightly overstuffed bag under the seat and fasten her seatbelt—and oh god, did she even want to know why the buckle was sticky?— before the safety announcements began playing over the speakers.

At least it was a short flight, she tried to tell herself. An hour of her life. An hour of her life, and then three days with her mother and no Kara there as a buffer just because it was her stupid anniversary. Great. Alex poked her head out into the aisle, hoping the airline wasn’t going to try to get away with not having drink service just because it was a short trip.

What she saw made her do a double take.

Maggie?

But she’d said she didn’t fly this route. Had never even been to Midvale.

But that profile sure looked like…

A moment later she turned her head enough to give Alex a better view, and sure enough, there was Maggie giving Alex a tiny wave, then holding up a finger.

As soon as the seatbelt sign went off, Maggie strolled down the aisle to Alex’s seat, just barely dodging the passenger making a break for the bathroom already. “Hey stranger, fancy seeing you here.”

“I—you don’t fly this route.”

Maggie dipped her head in acknowledgement. “Not normally, no.”

“Did they change your schedule?”

“I changed my schedule.”

“Why?”

Maggie’s gaze dropped to the ground for a moment. “You mentioned that you were nervous about this trip. I thought maybe…” She trailed off, suddenly looking embarrassed.

Later, Alex wouldn’t be able to say what possessed her to do it, but she reached a hand out, clasping Maggie’s in her own. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Maggie gave a quick nod. “I need to go run the coffee cart, but once I’m done, feel free to wander to the staff area. We’re in the back on this plane.”

Alex couldn’t keep the grin off her face the whole time she waited for her chance at ordering a Styrofoam cup of weak coffee. Within minutes of the coffee cart’s return to the back, Alex was up and out of her seat, trying to look casual as she made her way down the aisle.

“Doctor,” Maggie greeted her, a teasing smile on her lips that was—well, that was just unfairly attractive, Alex thought.

“Pilot.”

“Not yet.”

“Hey, you know how to fly a plane, and you’ve done it. That’s more pilot than 99% of the world.”

“Man, if only you were running the hiring committees…”

“You know, my sister’s got a pretty rich wife. Maybe for I should ask for a private jet for Hanukkah this year…”

“Speaking of family…”

Alex groaned but let herself get comfy as she leaned back against the wall beside Maggie. “I just wish things were easier. Like in the movies.”

“I think you and I watch different movies, Danvers.”

Alex tilted her head to the side at the new nickname. “That so, Sawyer?” She liked the way it felt on her tongue, and Maggie grinned back at her.

“You wanna talk about it, or do you want a distraction?”

“Distraction, definitely a distraction.”

“Okay, see that guy up in aisle 8? Navy shirt?”

Poking her head around the curtain, Alex silently counted rows until she found him sitting in the aisle seat. “Yeah, what about him?”

“One of the other flight attendants has caught him and his girlfriend trying to have sex in the plane bathroom on three separate flights now. They’ve basically got a sign warning all of us to watch for this man desperately trying to join the mile high club.”

“Oh my god, people do that?”

That pulled a loud laugh from Maggie. “You really thought it was only an urban myth?”

“I mean…sort of! The bathrooms are so small! And gross!”

Wrinkling her nose, Maggie dipped her head in agreement. “People don’t always try for the bathroom. I’m talking handjobs under sweatshirts. Make out sessions back in the crew area while we’re busy with the snack carts. You name it.”

“That sounds like the worst part of the job.”

“Definitely not the worst, but yeah, pretty shitty.” After a moment, Maggie’s lips curled up into a smirk. “Also, not nearly enough fun to be worth the risk.”

It took Alex a moment before the words sunk in. Then her mouth gaped open. “With a passenger?” she practically hissed.

Maggie looked half-ready to say something before shutting her mouth and shaking her head. “Another flight attendant. We dated for a couple of weeks. It turns out you can have too much in common with a girlfriend, though, so it didn’t last.”

“Huh,” was all Alex could manage with her brain still stuck on the fuzzy image of Maggie getting hot and heavy with some anonymous flight attendant behind the curtain. Where they were right then. All alone. Just the two of them. Her heart beat a little faster. “Yeah, uh, I guess it would probably be unethical to—you know, with a passenger or whatever.”

Maggie shrugged. “Lots of us do it. But mainly we wait to use the free hotel rooms we get.”

Alex forced herself to laugh. “Right! Yeah. Real bed. That’s—that’s gotta be nice.”

“So what about you? Any fun stories from the lab?”

“Not of that variety. Something about all the fragile lab equipment worth more than most of our yearly salaries is enough of a deterrent. Though there’s always some grad student drama that they think we’re completely oblivious to.”

“Ooh, is it like when the high school teachers clearly knew who had a crush on whom and would make them work together on partner projects?”

With a laugh, Alex shook her head. “More like praying nothing happens because I can’t afford to have that breakup bullshit in my lab, and I’m not at all interested in picking sides or mediating conflict.”

“I can’t imagine how they’re interested in each other when they’ve got a boss that looks like you strolling around.”

“What?” Alex blushed at the sound of her voice cracking.

“Knock it off with the shocked look, Danvers. I see those arms.” Unconsciously, Alex flexed them slightly, suddenly very aware of how revealing the tank top she was in was. But Maggie licked her lips, so Alex decided she would happily take the whole fucking thing off if Maggie so much as suggested that she might have nice abs to match.

Instead, one of the other flight attendants popped his head around the curtain and motioned for Maggie to join him—something about a “code brown” that Alex assumed had to be the world’s biggest moodkiller.

“This might take a little while, but if you want to sit back here for the descent, hopefully I’ll be back in time.”

Alex nodded and sank down into one of the tiny seats, deciding right then and there that it was better than any first-class seat ever could be.

And things were improved even further when Maggie returned only a few minutes later, flashing Alex a thumbs up as she mouthed, “False alarm.”

Still, the flight was short, and it felt like moments later that the plane was beginning its descent down to the Midvale airport where Alex would have to say goodbye to Maggie, who was working another flight later that evening. But as it turned out, the descent meant getting to hold hands with Maggie again. So it wasn’t all bad.

Alex was still smiling by the time she walked out into short term parking and found her mother waiting for her.

\---

After nearly three months of endless teasing from Kara about her sky-crossed lover—no matter how many times Alex rolled her eyes, Kara maintained it was a great pun—Alex finally ran into Maggie again. Her own travel schedule had been lighter than usual, which she normally loved but found herself regretting as the seasons changed to fall and brought with them thoughts of a rather cozy-looking Maggie curled up in a plain flannel shirt sipping from a steaming mug of tea. For her part, Maggie muttered something about Nebraska and minor emergencies that didn’t seem to call for any follow up questions.

“New Orleans your last stop, or do you have a layover?” Maggie asked when she came by with the snack cart, interspersing her brief comments to Alex with questions about snack orders to everyone else.

“Last stop.”

“Two bags of pretzels for you,” Maggie said as she leaned over to the father and son seated beside Alex before turning back to her. “Not a bad place for a conference. Hopefully you’ll get some time outside of the hotel”

“Actually it’s for a wedding. Friend of mine from grad school.”

“Well congrats to the happy couple. If you want any recommendations for good places to eat, swing by the back once we’re done with the snacks, yeah?”

“Okay!” And, like magic, Alex found herself buoyed with anticipation. She tried not to peek over her shoulder too many times—especially not after Maggie caught her looking—and she made herself wait a few extra minutes before she bounded to the back.

“Hey,” Maggie greeted her. “Just give me one second.” Alex nodded and stepped back to give Maggie room to maneuver the cart into the narrow storage area before settling into her seat. “Thanks. So New Orleans. First trip?”

“Second.”

“Oh nice. When were you there last?”

Alex tried to hide the slight cringe, but if Maggie’s confused expression was any indication, she hadn’t done a great job. “Uh, spring break. Junior year of college.”

“Ah,” Maggie sighed with a knowing grin. “So maybe this’ll be the first trip to New Orleans you remember?”

Scuffing her shoes along the worn layer of carpeting, Alex shrugged. “Something like that.”

“Well you’re in luck ’cause it’s one of my favorite cities.” And just like that, she was off, spouting out the best places for coffee and drinks and breakfast and seafood “if you’re into that kind of thing.”

“Wow, so many! You and my sister would get along great,” Alex laughed. “Hopefully I’ll manage to remember a few of these.”

“Sorry. I could, uh, send them to you when we land. If you want to trade numbers. Only if that wouldn’t be—”

But Alex was already pulling out her phone and opening up a page for a new contact. “I’ll text you when we land so you have my number, too. I guess, you probably have to fly out again soon, huh?”

“Actually, I’m taking a couple vacation days.”

“I’m sure you’ve got tons of things you want to do on your own, but if you wanted—I mean, would you want to try one of these places together?”

“If you’ve got time in between all the wedding stuff, that sounds fun.”

Alex nodded, already thinking about how she’d never been a huge fan of bachelorette parties and didn’t see any need to set aside that whole block of hours.

The knowledge that she’d get to spend time with Maggie off an airplane sustained her through a flight spent mostly in her own seat as minor crises and needy passengers kept Maggie busy almost the whole way there. When they landed, Alex disembarked with the other passengers and quickly sent a message to Maggie letting her know that she was off to check into her hotel but that she’d be free that night if they weren’t too tired or the next morning.

Half an hour later, Alex got a message back: “Meeting an old friend for dinner tonight, but brunch tomorrow? You haven’t lived if you haven’t had good beignets yet.”

Pushing down the pang of disappointment at having to wait another day to see Maggie, Alex quickly responded in the affirmative and got an address and a time in response.

Well, it was probably for the best that she make an appearance at Ayla’s bachelorette party. Between their busy schedules, she hadn’t seen the woman in nearly a year, and that last time had been at a conference.

\---

No one had used the word date, Alex reminded herself for what felt like the hundredth time as she sat across from Maggie, sipping coffee and laughing easily and smiling without even realizing she was doing it. It didn’t matter that it felt like the best date she’d been on in ages—maybe ever—she couldn’t just turn it into something romantic by sheer force of will. They were…friends. And that was good. Kara was always saying Alex needed more non-work friends. And best friends could hold hands and change their plans to see each other more and do thoughtful things to make each other feel better. Okay, maybe best friends didn’t sometimes dream about kissing each other and finding out what was underneath those crisp flight attendant uniforms and making use of hotel room beds, but it was fine. Perfectly fine.

They traded stories of their evenings. After dinner, Maggie had gone to a drag show with her old friend Jay and then promptly crashed in her hotel room as a long flight and night out caught up with her. Alex talked about Ayla’s rather tame party that had remained low-key despite Kirsten’s attempts at getting everyone to take shots and hit the dance floor. Alex had been a little too wired to fall asleep easily, but knowing what her morning plans were had made it easy enough to ignore the siren song of the bed when her alarm went off that morning. She didn’t tell Maggie that part, though.

As Maggie had promised, the beignets really were to die for. And the fact that Maggie gently dragged her fingertip across Alex’s chin to dust off the excess powdered sugar immediately made up for the humiliation of having powdered sugar all over her face.

Alex wanted to linger, wanted to tell Maggie they should spend the whole day together—doing nothing but this, just…existing together. Side by side. Laughing and talking. Maybe kissing. Maybe more. But she really had to get back to her hotel and start getting ready for the wedding and her flight back to National City the next morning.

They didn’t kiss when they left, but they managed a lingering hug that was significantly less awkward than the one in the airport. Alex practically floated back to her hotel room.

\---

Once they had each others’ numbers, they began texting. At first they were basic things.

“Trip back was boring without my favorite flight attendant.”

“Just talked to a colleague who did the flight to Midvale last week. Thought of you.”

“I’m doing my last long trip of the year up to a conference in Chicago this weekend. Any chance you’re on that route?” (Tragically, the answer had been no.)

“You’re so lucky you weren’t on this flight to Opal City. Like fuck me Danvers it was so bad.” (Alex had nearly dropped her phone into the bathtub when she skimmed that one without reading thoroughly.)

Eventually, the texting became more regular. Maggie would send photos from all over the country and have Alex try to guess where she was. Alex became an expert at finding tiny street signs in the background or googling restaurant names and pulling up the street view to make sure she was right before she sent her guess.

Alex texted a bit about work, but more about her sister and game nights and good things she’d seen on TV recently. Once, after a particularly disastrous attempt at baking lava cakes with Kara on sister night, she’d sent a selfie of the two of them covered in cocoa powder with a tray of burnt chocolate and smoke heavy in the air around them. Maggie had promptly “loved” the photo, and Alex tried not to swoon.

A few days later, Maggie sent a photo with her own face in it—smiling in front of an order of fresh beignets—and the message: “It’s less fun without you here!” After concurring that, yes, Maggie was very cute, Kara had rolled her eyes and told Alex if the two of them didn’t get her shit together and ask each other out soon, she was going to steal Alex’s phone and ask Maggie out for her one night. (Alex changed her phone password that evening.)

As they got closer to the holidays, Alex’s texts got a bit more panicked as she prepped her apartment for her mom’s visit. They cycled through hosting duty for Hanukkah each year, and even though it felt like only yesterday that Alex had been on her hands and knees trying to remove any trace of dust from underneath furniture that hadn’t been picked up since she moved in, it looked like she was up again.

As it turned out, Eliza’s attention was less on the possible presence of dirt and far more focused on Alex’s phone and the mysterious texter who kept making her daughter’s face light up. Alex insisted it was “just a friend, Mom,” and Kara contented herself with an exaggerated eyeroll.

The next week, as Christmas and Alex’s formal days off from the lab approached, Alex started texting Maggie more often. A couple of weeks ago, Maggie had made an offhand comment about not being in touch with her family anymore that was meant to sound casual, but Alex suspected that even if the pain was mostly in the past, the holidays still had to be hard. So she sent pictures of random things and a few extra selfies—including one of her in a truly hideous sweater for Kara’s annual Unique Sweater Party (she thought ugly sounded overly judgmental). She even sent a few of the silly memes Kara liked sharing with Alex to keep her “hip.”

On the evening of December 23rd after enjoying the first full day of her official vacation from the university’s lab, Alex decided to stop waffling back and forth and text Maggie already. “I’m officially off work til New Year’s! I was wondering if you’re going to be in National City at all and might want to do something.”

A few minutes later, her phone buzzed. “Would love to, but since I’m not doing anything for Christmas, they scheduled me for a 6-hr Christmas Eve red-eye :( I fly out at 10 tomorrow night and should probably get my bags packed and try to get enough sleep to make it through the flight.”

Alex’s face fell. It wasn’t fair that Maggie was getting stuck working. And on a day that mattered to her, even if she made it sound like it didn’t. But her mouth had twisted up into this sad little smile the handful of times she’d talked about Christmas and memories of drinking cocoa and going ice skating and huddling by the fire to warm up…

Before Alex realized exactly what she was doing, she’d pulled her laptop out, opened National Airline’s website, and begun scrolling through their flights for the next night. Around 10pm, Maggie had said, and a long flight. Six hours. Hmm… So no layovers, at least it didn’t sound like that. She didn’t think it qualified as a red-eye if there were layovers.

In the end, she narrowed it down to two possible flights. One to Metropolis and one to DC. The DC flight was a little shorter than 6 hours, and the Metropolis one was a little longer. But the DC flight left directly at 10:00pm, whereas the Metropolis one didn’t fly out until 10:30.

Alex drummed her fingers along her laptop before impulsively purchasing a ticket for both. She wondered if she was going to get red-flagged for having two one-way tickets. Probably. Well, she’d get to the airport a little earlier than usual to account for extra security. At least most people would probably already have left for home. Hopefully.

She didn’t start to regret her decision until she was in the cab on the way to the airport the next night. What if Maggie thought this was super creepy? She certainly hadn’t suggested that Alex come join her. Oh fuck, maybe this was a terrible idea.

But then the cab was pulling into the drop off loop, and it was too late to go back unless she wanted to double her cab fare _and_ waste all the money she spent on those stupid last-minute tickets.

Security went easily enough. She only showed them one of her tickets, which probably helped. And she had enough time to get nervous all over again as she paced outside the gate for the flight to DC. But then they were calling rows for a decidedly uncrowded flight, and Alex traipsed along with everyone else, casually peering into the different crew areas and growing more and more disappointed each time Maggie didn’t appear. She even ducked into the back area with the bathrooms, spotting a flight attendant she’d seen a couple of times.

“Hey, uh, random question, but is Maggie working this flight?”

The woman looked a little suspicious, but after a moment she relented and shook her head.

“Oh. Okay cool. Thanks.”

Alex walked back up to her seat, wondering how to get off a plane. Hmm. She’d never tried to do that. Maybe she could just walk off… If she was really casual about it…

“Ma’am! Ma’am, I need you to find your seat. That’s the wrong way.”

Alex blinked slowly. She didn’t recognize him, and he didn’t seem very friendly. She wasn’t really in the mood to be arrested if she just made a break for it.

She forced herself to look as awful as she had back in middle school when she’d wanted a random day home “sick” and looked up at him through wide eyes. “Sorry, I”—she covered her mouth and took a few deep breaths—“I’ve been so sick. Flu.” He took a step back. Victory. “I thought I was feeling better, but I’m really, really not. I can’t do 6 hours on a flight.”

“Okay, um—”

“I’ll talk to customer service about getting flight credit, but I think I’m gonna be sick. I need to go!”

“I—uh—okay—I’ll call down to—”

But Alex was already waving and jogging down the ramp to get off the plane before they went and started taxiing or something. It wouldn’t do to make it this far only to get stuck in DC.

As soon as she got off, she ignored the confused looks she was getting from the woman still staffing the check-in desk and hurried down to one of the departures boards, quickly scanning the list to find the Metropolis flight details. Okay, gate 26, she could make it. She just had to move quickly.

One brisk walk later, Alex was able to catch up with the tail end of the boarding line, making sure to pull out the correct boarding pass at the very last second. No one gave her weird looks, so she hoped word hadn’t gotten around about some redhead running off planes.

At least this had to be the right flight.

Only Alex still didn’t see Maggie. With every row passed and still no Maggie in sight, Alex felt her heart sink lower and lower.

Apparently they’d both be spending Christmas alone. Great. Maybe she could try to pull it off like she was surprising Kara and her in-laws… As if she’d ever want to go see them. Even Kara, who liked almost everyone, hated seeing her in-laws.

As she settled into her seat in nearly the last row of the plane—and why she was this far back on a half-empty flight, she’d never know—Alex stuffed her bag into the empty overhead bin and tried to figure out what she was going to do when she made it to Metropolis. It’d be bright and early Christmas morning there, so maybe she could just wander around and they buy another stupidly expensive ticket back.

At least she’d remembered headphones, though not her good ones. With that sad realization, she jammed them into her ears, crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes tight.

“Alex?”

Oh, good, now her subconscious was reminding her of everything that hadn’t worked out. Excellent.

“Danvers, you okay?”

Alex blinked her eyes open.

“Maggie?”

“That’s what my name tag says.”

Alex blinked a few times. “I didn’t see you. When I boarded, I mean.”

“I was helping some rich lady over by check-in and got on late.”

“Oh.”

“I didn’t know you were traveling for Christmas.”

“I’m not.”

Maggie arched an eyebrow as she looked around at their surroundings. “Then I think you’ve found yourself a bad seat, Danvers.”

Feeling her cheeks warming, Alex ducked her head. “I just knew—well, you were stuck traveling for the holiday. Sort of.”

“How did you even know which flight I was working?”

“I guessed. Okay, maybe I checked the DC one first.”

“Oh my god, wait. Are you the sick passenger who sprinted off a plane that we heard about over the radio?”

Alex grimaced. “Maybe…”

As the announcement came on for everyone to make their way to their seats, Maggie shook her head. “I need to go work, but I want to talk to you, okay?”

Alex nodded, hoping it wasn’t going to be a lecture about not setting off security protocols or stalking flight attendants.

After a rather stressful take off made worse by Alex’s anxious musings about what Maggie wanted, then another wait as Maggie and the other flight attendants made the rounds with the only aisle service they’d get until closer to landing when they’d come around with breakfast cart.

Eventually, everything settled, and they dimmed the cabin lights to let everyone pretend like they were getting an adequate amount of rest before they dealt with friends and families the next morning. With a deep breath, Alex undid her seatbelt and poked her head around the curtain, finding Maggie and another flight attendant, who promptly excused herself with a wink in Maggie’s direction.

“Hey,” Alex practically whispered.

Maggie patted the seat next to her, and Alex sunk down to it, her gaze focused on her hands as she picked at her nails.

“Why’d you book a seat on this flight?”

Alex shrugged. “No one should be alone on Christmas. Or whatever days matter to them.”

“I’m not really alone,” Maggie said, gesturing at the row of passengers.

“Yeah. I guess. But you know what I mean. You should be with someone who—who cares about you.”

Maggie’s eyes looked watery, shimmering in the low cabin lighting. “You hate flying.”

“It’s…not my favorite.”

“But you’re voluntarily taking a really long flight on your day off. For me. So that I won’t be alone on Christmas.”

Alex’s lips twitched. Eventually she nodded.

Reaching out, Maggie clasped both of Alex’s hands in hers. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

Alex swallowed heavily, wondering if all of her feelings were written on her face. All the unvoiced promises about all the nice things she’d like to do to show Maggie how much at least one person cared for her.

“Consider it my Christmas gift. Or Christmas Eve gift, I guess.”

Glancing up at the clock, Maggie grinned. “Nope, we crossed into a new time zone. It’s after midnight now.”

“Oh. Well then, merry Christmas, Maggie.”

“Merry Christmas,” Maggie whispered back.

And suddenly she seemed even closer than she had been a moment ago.

Alex blinked.

Maggie licked her lower lip.

Later, they wouldn’t be able to say who finally closed the distance, but suddenly they were kissing. And it was nothing like that awkward first hug. It was easy. Like coming home. And just like that, Alex realized that she didn’t want to lose this. Didn’t want to let this person who had become so important to her get away. Wanted to show her how much she cared.

Without really thinking about it, Alex found herself deepening the kiss, winding an arm around Maggie’s body and pulling her closer as she sucked at her lower lip.

A tiny whine broke the quiet, and Maggie pulled back, her lips glistening and her breath shallow. “I—I probably shouldn’t—not at work, I mean.”

“Right, right. Sorry.”

“Don’t! Don’t apologize. I definitely, uh, wanted that.”

“Me too. For a while.”

Maggie grinned. “I could tell.”

Alex ducked her head.

“But maybe until we land, we could just…try to keep it at talking. So that I still have a job in the new year.”

“I’ll try my best.”

As it turned out, they made it most of the flight, thought they snuck in a couple more kisses for good measure before Alex went back to her seat for the breakfast service and landing.

The one good thing about sitting all the way in the back was that it meant she barely had to wait for Maggie when she got off the plane, and soon they were face-to-face again.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Alex glanced around them. “Did you have plans for the day?”

Maggie shook her head. “Not really. Take a long nap in the hotel. Get cheap takeout. Watch my favorite Christmas movie. Sleep. I don’t know. What about you?”

“Honestly? This was pretty much as far as my planning went.”

“Well where are you staying?”

Alex ran a hand over the back of her neck and chuckled. “I, uh, didn’t really get that far. I’m sure something’s open, though.”

“I mean, I have a room already paid for. If you want…” Alex’s whole body warmed. “I’m not saying we have to do anything!”

Leaning in, Alex whispered. “Either way, yes.”

That got them moving fast, and before long, they’d gotten to the hotel for the very early check-in that Maggie insisted was one of the perks she’d miss the most if she ever had to go back to booking rooms like a normal person.

As it turned out, after making out for an hour against the piles of hotel room pillows, the nap ended up happening after all.

As did delivery from Kara’s favorite Chinese restaurant in Metropolis.

And once Maggie admitted that Die Hard was her favorite Christmas movie, Alex quickly agreed to watch with her. She’d had a moment of panic, worrying that Maggie might like those sappy Christmas movies that every public school teacher somehow thought would be perfect for every student in December, but then she remembered that it was Maggie. And the fact that they had compatible likes and dislikes just seemed like another thing she should already have expected.

Once Maggie’s Christmas Day checklist had been completed, the only logical next step seemed to be finding one another’s lips again, tumbling back into the bed as sweaters and jeans slowly, haltingly, began to be stripped off. But it didn’t feel too fast. Not when they’d spent months getting to know each other. Telling one another things they didn’t tell most people—not even ex-girlfriends. Opening up from across the country. They were just letting their bodies catch up, really, as hands and lips mapped out paths they’d thought about for so many months. And when they curled up to sleep later that night, curling around one another felt only natural, like their bodies had been made to fit perfectly side-by-side.

“That,” Maggie sleepily murmured, “was definitely one of my favorite Christmases.”

Alex hummed in agreement. “Agreed. Though maybe next year I won’t have to spend three grand on plane tickets.”

Maggie’s eyes opened wide at that. “What?”

“Shh, apparently I’m getting some credit for the flight I didn’t take.”

“All for m—”

“Worth it,” Alex insisted. “Now go to sleep.”

“Tomorrow you’re letting me pay for breakfast.”

Alex nuzzled into Maggie’s neck before mumbling. “Room service. Don’t wanna leave this bed all day.”

“Well that we can agree on.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I'm on Twitter and Tumblr @sapphicscholar, and for those of you reading my WIPs, there are updates coming as soon as grading for the semester is done!


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